Grandma & Papa in Japan!

Brian's parents just came over to visit us here in Japan and we had such a great time! This was their first visit to Japan, and they came for 10 days so we made sure to pack in as much as we could!! We were on the go everyday! We saw baseball games, shrines, beaches, museums, ate some great food, traveled to Hiroshima, took a train, took a boat, saw lots of fish, walked the city, hung out and even celebrated the 4th of July! Unfortunately, they just so happened to come during what we found out was the rain season here, and it literally poured rain the entire time...but we didn't let that stop us, we got umbrellas, packed our rain coats, made sure we had the rain covers for the strollers, and made the best of it! Thankfully we did have a few dry moments here and there, so we made sure to take advantage of those! They even got to go see Brian play in Tokyo the day before they flew back to the States, how fun!! It was so great having them here, we miss them already!!!! Thanks for a wonderful time Jane & Tom (aka: Grandma & Papa!!), we had a blast!!

Here's a ton of pictures of their time here, as you can see, I took a lot, but we did so much, I had to document it all!!!! Enjoy!!!!

FUKUOKA SHRINES...

We went to 3 beautiful shrines here in Fukuoka. The Kushida Shrine, which is located downtown, the Dazaifu Shrine which is about 25 minutes outside the city, and the Atago shrine which is just minutes from our apartment! We even got to see the making of a few floats that are part of a huge festival here on July 15th, called the Hakata Gion Yamakasa. These floats are amazing, they all have to weigh one ton each and take about a year to build. Thousands of Japanese men (wearing traditional loincloth outfits, interesting!) carry them through the streets in a huge race. They are displayed all over the city until the day of the race!! They are stunning!

THE KUSHIDA SHRINE

Grandma, Austin and Papa in front of one of the floats for the Yamakasa festival!

Austin was kind of scared of some of the floats, but he sure liked this one!! It had some characters from a Japanese cartoon!

A finished float on display at the Kushida shrine, the start of the Yamakasa race!

At the entrance of the Kushida shrine

THE DAZAIFU SHRINE

At the Dazaifu Shrine (the shrine of knowledge), it was pouring rain this day!! We got soaked!!

Austin's favorite part of this shrine was pouring the water from the well onto Grandma and Papa!

Brooke spent most of the trip in quarantine!! She had to stay under the rain cover so she wouldn't get wet!

Feeding the Koi fish in the shrine's pond!

The pigeons wanted the fish's food!! They came right up to our hands! Austin loved feeding all the animals!

At least we came prepared!! Umbrellas helped keep us dry!

Hey, we all used to live in Washington, we aren't afraid of a little rain!

Austin & Papa rubbing the bull for good luck!

Austin keeping dry with Papa's hat!

THE ATAGO SHRINE

Climbing through the straw hoop for luck!

You have to walk up a bazillion old steps to get up to this shrine, but the view at the top is so worth it!! We went at sunset and saw some great views of the city below!

Brooke hanging out at the shrine!

Austin and Papa!

RAMEN & TEMPURA...

We were told about two yummy places to eat by our friend's Katie & DJ, and they sure didn't disappoint!! We had such a fun time figuring out how to order at this small little Ramen place, it was so cool! You placed your order in a vending machine like thing at the entrance, it spit out a ticket for you, then you filled out a little form telling how you wanted your Ramen noodles (spicy, with meat, with onions, with fat, yes fat! etc), then you waited until a stall opened up for you to sit at...you give your ticket to a person who was in a little window at your stall, then they bring you your noodles, close your window so you have privacy, and you eat away with your chopsticks!!! It was so good, and so fun, Brooke LOVED her ramen, Austin didn't mind it, and we all crushed ours!! It was such a neat little place, definitely a fun experience!

The Tempura restaurant was delicious too!! It took us a little while to actually find it, I think I scared Brian's parents driving through the city through all the little side streets trying to get there!! But we made it, and were glad we did! It was a cute little restaurant, you took your shoes off then sat at a low table in the ground. Once we figured out they had an English menu, we ordered a bunch of chicken, shrimp, vegetables, filet, and cheese which all came on skewers. Then they turned on a little pot of oil which had rocks in it (we're hoping they were clean!), then we dipped the food into the tempura batter then into the hot oil!! Austin had a blast doing this, I know it sounds a little dangerous, but he really did good at it and had a blast "cooking" his food!! It was sort of like fondue! Brooke of course ate everything we gave her, and we all practically had to be rolled out of there it was so good!

Austin & Grandma sitting in their stalls at the Ramen place!

Papa getting ready to enjoy some ramen!

We were so crammed in there, but it was so delicious we didn't care!

Brooke is a big fan of Ramen!

Tom showing off his chopstick skills!

Me, Brooke, Austin and Jane at the Tempura restaurant! (Not so sure what faces the kids are making!)

Austin took this picture of Papa!

Having fun with Grandma cooking tempura!

Brooke couldn't get enough of it!

Austin putting the food in the batter!

Celebrating his cooking skills!!

ITSOSHIMA...

We picked an almost rain free day and drove about 45 minutes south of Fukuoka to a place called Itsoshima. It's know for its beaches and cafes on the water! Of course since the weather wasn't really cooperating, there was absolutely no one down there, but it was still beautiful and worth the drive down there! We saw some gorgeous beaches and little towns, the kids got to play in the sand for a little bit and we even had a great lunch at a cafe called Hola which had the best view! It was a nice change having some fresh tacos and enjoying the outdoors with a view of the beach! It was a fun day!

Papa, Austin, Grandma and Brooke at Keya Beach in Itsoshima!

The water was so beautiful here!

Can't wait to come back here when it's sunny so we can go for a swim!

Having fun at the beach!

Lunch at the Hola cafe...at the best seat in the house!! Check out our view!

Where does Brooke get those blond streaks from?!

The Falky girls in Japan!

THE FERRY & AQUARIUM...

One day we took a 15 min ferry ride from the beach by our apartment to the Aquarium here, it was so fun! The ferry ride gave us a great view of the beachfront skyline, and the kids loved being on the boat! The Aquarium was a huge hit too, they loved seeing all the fish, the dolphins and the sea lions! It was a fun day!

This reminds me of Seattle!

The dome on the left is where Brian's team plays!

On the ferry!

Brooke liked the octupus...Austin not so much, he kept trying to pull Papa and Brookie away from it!

Let's go see some fish!

Checking out the sea lions, they were the kid's favorite!

Run Brookie, they're coming to get us!!

Papa found out how to buy the sea lions some fish so we could feed them...Austin loved it!

On the boat ride home!

Austin and Papa getting a little rest from the fun day!

HIROSHIMA...

On the sunniest day we had, we headed off to Hiroshima to show Jane & Tom the Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Museum. This is always a worthwhile trip, it is so educational and touching, it effects you every time! We started off the morning by getting on the subway which took us to the big train terminal downtown. There we found our way to the Shinkansen (the bullet train), and managed to get ourselves some tickets to board it! That took us a little while, but we finally figured it out! Austin was so excited to be on the train! The train goes so fast, it only took about an hour to get to Hiroshima! We got ourselves a taxi to the Peace Park and checked out the museum before walking around the Park and seeing the memorial and the Abomb building. It was a hot day, but the kids did so good though, Austin walked the whole time as we only brought a single stroller and he never tuckered out! Another great day!

Riding the subway with Grandma & Papa, such a big boy!

On the Shinkansen!

Papa's first trip on the bullet train!

Austin checking out the land speeding by!

At the Peace Museum.

Keeping each other entertained and having fun!

A view of the Abomb building and Memorial for all the victims.

Austin and Papa taking it all in.

On the subway on our way home!

Brooke was pooped by the end of the trip!

JUST HANGING OUT...

When not off on an adventure, we just hung out and had fun and walked around checking things out! It was so nice having them in town and waking up each morning knowing you had family here to hang out with!!!

At the infamous Fukuoka Tower!

Reading their favorite book with Grandma...I think they had her read at least a thousand times while she was here!

Papa reading to Brookie!

Brooke has to have all of her animals with her when she gets out of her crib after her nap! Here she is bringing them all to Papa!

Cuddling with Papa and her animals!

BRIAN'S BASEBALL GAMES...

And of course we always had Brian's games to go to!!! We got to see a few of Brian's games, his schedule is really bad right now, they have been traveling a lot, so he was gone a lot of the time, but we did get to go to some games!! It was fun taking Brian's parents to their first Japanese Baseball games and seeing the looks on their faces as they watched and listened to all the different things they do here!!

Papa at his first Softbank Hawk's game!

Jane and Tom getting a kick out of their first Lucky Seven Balloon experience!! (Japan's version of the 7th inning stretch!)

On the field after the game!

Playing ball with Papa!

This picture sums up the trip...lots and lots of rain!!!

Getting ready to go to the game!

At daddy's game!

Brooke NEVER sits still at the games...she is a handful!!!

Austin is not a fan of when the balloons are blown up during the Lucky seven...here he is sitting on Katherine Ortiz's lap (one of the player's daughter's!) waiting for them to let off!

Austin loves blowing up the balloons, he had so much fun with Grandma and Papa doing this!

Eventhough he loves to blow them up, he doesn't like it when the whole stadium is filled with them!! He doesn't mind when they are let go, he just doesn't like seeing them all inflated at once!! Good thing he has Grandma to protect him!

Check out all those balloons!

Off they go!

Brooke loves cheering!

Grandma, Austin, Me, Brooke and Papa on the field after the game with all the mascots!

Brookie with her Papa and Grandma!

Brian and his parents!

Brian with some press after the game!

Brookie getting a lift from Papa through the stadium!

Austin & Daddy!

It's so funny seeing how tall Brian is over here!

Thanks for such an amazing time Jane & Tom, we loved having you out here and miss you so much already!!